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By Yoshita Singh United Nations, Apr 4 () The rapidly growing novel coronavirus pandemic is so far having little impact on the global food supply chain, but that could change for the worse - and soon - if anxiety-driven panic by major food importers takes hold, the World Food Programme (WFP) has said. In a new report, "COVID-19: Potential impact on the world's poorest people: A WFP analysis of the economic and food security implications of the pandemic", the UN agency said global markets for basic cereals are well-supplied and prices generally low. However, given the highly globalised nature of food production and supply, commodities need to move from the world's 'breadbaskets' to where they are consumed and the novel coronavirus-related containment measures are starting to make this more challenging. "Disruptions are so far minimal; food supply is adequate, and markets are relatively stable," WFP Senior Spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs said, noting that global cereal stocks are at comfortable levels and the outlook for wheat and other staple crops is positive for the rest of the year. "But we may soon expect to see disruptions in food supply chains," she said, explaining that if big importers lose confidence in the reliable flow of basic food commodities, <keyword id="990648" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Panic-buying">panic buying</keyword> could ensue, driving prices up. A grain market analyst at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), quoted anonymously in the report, said the problem is not supply, but "a behavioural change over food security". "What if bulk buyers think they can't get wheat or rice shipments in May or June? That is what could lead to a global food supply crisis," the analyst said. For low-income countries, the consequences could be devastating, with long-term repercussions, with coping strategies coming at the expense of such essential services as health and education. It recalled that when a food price crisis struck in 2008, the world's poorest households - which typically spend the largest share of income on food - suffered disproportionately. Using the economic pillar of the Proteus food security index - and taking into account dependency on primary commodities such as fuel, ores and metals for export earnings - the report said that countries in Africa and the Middle East are most vulnerable. Africa accounts for the majority of the almost 212 million people in the world who are chronically food insecure and the 95 million who live amidst acute food insecurity, the report said. Byrs said labour shortages could disrupt the production and processing of labour-intensive crops in particularly, especially in vulnerable countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Other potential sources of disruption include blockages along transport routes - a particular concern for fresh produce - and quarantine measures that could impede farmers' access to markets. Going forward, the WFP report said, it is essential to monitor food prices and markets, and to transparently disseminate information - thus helping to strengthen government policies while also averting public panic, and social unrest. It said that in places where food insecurity is caused by restricted access, rather than lack of availability, cash-based transfers -- which can often be made through contactless solutions -- should be considered as a standard response. "Planning in-kind food assistance is essential," the report said, noting that supply chain disruptions are likely to affect higher-value items first. Such items involve more tiers of suppliers, human interaction and dependency on few suppliers - putting specialized nutritious food more at risk than staples, it said. YAS SCY SCY

Coronavirus' impact on the global food supply chain could sky-rocket with anxiety-driven panic, say experts

New Delhi, Apr 21 () The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has led to increase in demand for pure protection products like <keyword id="171063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Term-insurance">term insurance</keyword> and this is expected to gain traction post lockdown, said <keyword id="6374257" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="max-life-insurance">Max Life Insurance</keyword> CEO Prashant Tripathy. There is pressure on growth due to the lockdown but the life insurance business would be back on its feet once it's lifted, he said. "Insurance is a very fundamental thing of life like food, clothing and shelter...We are finding that the demand for protection business has gone up. People are preferring term rather than saving products to secure the future of their loved ones in these uncertain times," he told . COVID-19 is expected to result in improved awareness and importance of life insurance as a risk cover rather than a mere investment product during the uncertain times, he said. Tripathy also emphasised that like any other business, insurance too is very much connected with economic growth and there will be impact on the industry if there is deceleration as has been projected by various agencies. "There has been an impact on new sales due to the lockdown. We are trying to cover it up with digital means. For the lockdown period, there would be pressure on growth," he said. Sharing details of sales through digital means, he said, "we quickly adapted to new reality and initiated sellers' online training for enabling digital engagement across distribution channels, as an outcome of which around 24,000 policies were issued in the last week of March 2020 since the announcement of lockdown." Within four days of work-from-home, customer-related operations were operating at about 80 per cent efficiency level with more than 1,000 employees engaged in customer facing activities, he said, adding, policy issuance for many medical pending cases was enabled via TeleMER protocol that ensured remote medical underwriting. The company has processed a total of 1,938 death claims in the second half of March 2020 even with the majority of employees operating from home and all supporting documents were accepted online, he added. Self-service options were made available through website, digital bots and AI driven Interactive Voice Response. In the last two weeks around 5,000 policyholders have utilized self-service options on the company's website, he said. DP ANUANU

Demand for term insurance could increase after lockdown as per Max Life CEO

New Delhi, May 12 () Online commerce platforms are estimated to have regained about 30 per cent of the pre-lockdown order volume in the last one week after relaxations were eased in the third phase of lockdown, a report by Unicommerce eSolutions said on Tuesday. Unicommerce is an e-commerce focused supply chain solutions provider, and claims to process over 20 per cent of the country's e-commerce volume. Its clients include Myntra, Bulbul TV, Urbanclap, Forever New, House of Anita Dongre, Jack &amp; Jones, Vero Moda and others. The company said it processes 4 lakh order items a day, amounting to over USD 2 billion (about Rs 15,000 crore) in gross merchandise value. "The overall e-commerce sector showed a good sign of recovery in the first week of lockdown 3.0 and made up for the steep decline of 40 days due to lockdown. The overall industry has reached 30 per cent of pre-lockdown order volumes which is a good sign for the industry," the report said. However, business will continue to take a major hit as over 40 per cent of the e-tailers are based in metropolitan cities which are currently in the red zone, it added. E-commerce companies have been permitted to sell all items in orange and green zones starting from May 4, 40 days after the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25. In the first two phases of the lockdown, e-commerce companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal were allowed to sell only essential items like grocery, medicines and healthcare products. In the red zones, that include top e-commerce hubs like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad, e-commerce companies can still ship only essential items. "The online fashion sector is one of the major contributors to overall India's e-commerce volume and growth. It includes apparel, footwear, bags, and accessories and has suffered the maximum impact due to the coronavirus pandemic. "During the first seven days of lockdwon 3.0, the sector has recovered 30 per cent of its pre-lockdown order volumes," the report said. It added that the segment is expected to see further growth in the current week, as it took a couple of days for retailers to get back into the business. The fashion sector is expected to see the next big jump once e-commerce operations begin in metro cities, considering all metro cities are presently under the red zone, the report said. Order volume for electronic appliances increased significantly, with recovery rate of 35 per cent in the first week of the third phase of lockdown. It added that there has been a 5-7 per cent rise in the average order size compared to the week before the lockdown was announced in March. Given that eyewear was placed under the essential category, online eyewear players continued to operate during the lockdown as well. "During the lockdown, the number of orders for eyewear decreased by over 60 per cent despite multiple promotions by leading online eyewear players. However, the order volume has increased by 70-75 per cent as compared to a week before lockdown 3.0," it said, adding that consumers were probably not aware that eyewear products operate under the essentials category. For the cosmetics category, some products were available under the essentials category "However, the order volume declined by almost 90 per cent during the time period. In the first week of lockdown 3.0, the cosmetics sector has not shown any significant signs of recovery, as the sector has only been able to regain 15-20 per cent of its order volumes. "Having said that, the sector is expected to recover but will take a slightly longer time than usual," the report said. E-pharma and online grocery sector witnessed a massive spike of 100 per cent spike during the first two stages of lockdown, with the average order size increasing by 20 per cent, it added. "However, there has been a negligible change in the number of orders in the last one week, beyond a spike of 7-8 per cent in the overall order size as people may have already stocked up medicines and grocery items. The lockdown is expected to result in a major boost for the sector in the current financial year," it said. Unicommerce CEO Kapil Makhija said the last 40 days have had a major impact and changed people's mindset about online shopping. "Even though the government has permitted certain activities, consumers are still wary of leaving the house and have adopted social distancing as a way of life. The essentials category has witnessed a major surge during the 40-day lockdown and will continue to see an increase in the overall demand," he said. With certain relaxations in the non-essential sales in green and orange zones, a similar growth is being seen in other sectors, he said, adding that e-commerce industry is expected to see a steep increase in orders in the long run as consumers would adjust to the new norms post-lockdown. SR RVK

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Coronavirus' impact on the global food supply chain could sky-rocket with anxiety-driven panic, say experts

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Demand for term insurance could increase after lockdown as per Max Life CEO

PTI

E-commerce regains 30 pc of pre-lockdown order volume, says Unicommerce

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